


Icarus

by yuiichiiros



Category: GOT7
Genre: #PROVEIT, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 13:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11692947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuiichiiros/pseuds/yuiichiiros
Summary: No matter what he did, he always came second.





	Icarus

Jinyoung had a new roommate this school year, and he was _thrilled_ to meet this new person and get to know each other and become best friends, blah blah blah. Socializing was definitely his forte.

Except it wasn’t.

When he entered his new dorm for the first time, he saw his roommate sitting on a bed with his laptop, his eyes glued to the screen while he was shouting some sort of nonsense at it. Jinyoung sighed and set his stuff beside his bed, since it didn’t seem like his roommate would be noticing him anytime soon.

After he was settled, Jinyoung stood in front of his roommate and cleared his throat. There was no response. Already annoyed, he cleared his throat again, yet his roommate still didn’t acknowledge his presence.

Jinyoung wasn’t exactly a patient person, and his roommate was being incredibly rude, so he decided to speak up.

“Excuse me,” he said in a loud voice.

His roommate finally looked up from his screen briefly, then his eyes went back to whatever was on there. “Oh, are you my new roommate?” he asked halfheartedly. “Nice to meet you. I’m Im Jaebum.”

Jinyoung raised a brow at Jaebum. _This_ was the kind of welcome he was getting?

He looked at Jaebum’s laptop. “What are you doing?”

“Overwatch,” was his response. Jinyoung watched Jaebum as he was staring intently at the screen and pressing buttons on the keyboard. Then Jaebum shouted, “Dammit!” and slammed his laptop closed.

After a moment of awkward silence passed between them, Jinyoung said, “Well, I’m not sure if you’re interested, but I’m Jinyoung, and yes, I’m your new roommate.”

Jaebum finally stood up and properly looked at Jinyoung, and Jinyoung finally had a good view of his face now. Nothing about him particularly stood out to Jinyoung, though. If anything, Jaebum’s features reminded him a lot of his own: similar pale skin, dark black hair. He didn’t seem to have much of a build, either; Jinyoung doubted he even exercised that much. His lazy ass probably just spent all his time playing stupid Overwatch. Jinyoung couldn’t believe that he had to live with a guy like _him_ for the next year.

Jaebum held his hand out for Jinyoung and smiled a little. “Nice to meet you, Jinyoung. I hope we can be friends.”

Jinyoung took his hand and shook it. “Yeah, sure.”

Jinyoung went to the stuff he had set down earlier and started unpacking. Afterwards, he laid down in bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the new semester. Hopefully it’d go well. Maybe he could continue to maintain his 4.0 GPA and hopefully become the new swim team captain.

Then the image of Mark Tuan appeared in his head, and he realized that with annoying, dumb Mark in the way, there was no way he would ever be able to be team captain.

“Hey, Jinyoung,” said Jaebum, snapping Jinyoung out of his daydream, “do you play Overwatch?”

“No.”

“Really? You should play with me sometime. You’re the first person I’ve met who doesn’t play it. What do you usually like to do in your free time, then?”

“Read. Swim. Not much, honestly.”

“Oh, you swim? Are you on the swim team?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, nice! Then you know Mark Tuan, right?”

Jinyoung froze. Jaebum knew Mark?

“Yeah, so what?”

“Mark and I are friends, actually. We basically grew up together.” Jaebum gave Jinyoung a full smile this time. “Hey, the three of us should hang sometime. You, me, and Mark.”

Jinyoung wanted to throw up. First of all, his new roommate was an asshole to him when they first met, and then he was also Mark’s friend? This had to be a nightmare.

“Sorry, but I’m gonna pass. I don’t really like being around Mark.”

Jaebum’s face fell. “Oh… okay.” Silence fell between them again. Then Jaebum, seeming like some sort of realization hit him, asked, “Are you Park Jinyoung?”

“How’d you know?”

“Mark’s told me a lot about you,” said Jaebum. “He says you’re a really good swimmer. And coming from Mark, that’s gotta mean a lot.”

“R-... Really?” Jinyoung propped his arm up to look at Jaebum better.

“Well… he’s also told me a lot about how you two, um… don’t get along and all…”

“Ah.” Jinyoung laid back down in his bed.

“He really does think you’re a great swimmer, though.”

“Sure.”

“Well, it’s almost dinnertime, so I’m heading to the dining hall. Are you coming?”

“Go ahead. I’ll eat later.”

Jaebum looked like he wanted to say something else, but he just nodded and walked out of the dorm. When he was out, Jinyoung let out a sigh.

He hated this school year already.

-

That night, Jinyoung got a feeling that Jaebum was intentionally avoiding him. Jinyoung had went to get dinner about half an hour after Jaebum did, and even though he knew Jaebum saw him, he made no effort to ask Jinyoung to sit next to him. However, Jinyoung brushed that off as Jaebum just not wanting Jinyoung and Mark next to each other, since Jaebum was sitting with Mark. But they still didn’t speak much when they returned to their dorm other than Jaebum saying “Goodnight” before he went to bed and Jinyoung (begrudgingly) saying it back. That was more than okay with Jinyoung, though, because being associated with Mark or anyone close to Mark was the last thing he wanted to do.

When Jinyoung woke up, Jaebum was already out of bed and getting his books ready for class.

“Are you done with the bathroom?” asked Jinyoung.

“Yeah, it’s yours now.”

Jinyoung nodded and got out of bed. After he was done with his business in the bathroom, he got his swimsuit and made his way to the pool without giving Jaebum a second thought.

When he got to the pool, he changed into his swimsuit and did several laps across the pool. He didn’t realize till now how relaxing it was to finally be alone and away from Jaebum’s annoying presence. Being alone in the pool made him feel so… free. He didn’t notice till now that he was so tense around Jaebum, even though he obviously didn’t seem like he wanted to harm Jinyoung. He was probably just keeping his distance because he knew about Jinyoung’s relationship with Mark.

So why did he feel so tense around Jaebum?

Jinyoung pushed the thought aside and continued swimming. It was probably nothing, anyway.

And for a little over a month, there really wasn’t much going on between him and Jaebum. Occasionally they’d say hi to each other when they saw each other on campus, or whenever Jinyoung would arrive at the dorm and Jaebum was already there. Jinyoung had decided that having Jaebum as a roommate wasn’t so bad after all, since he seemed to just mind his own business all the time.

Jinyoung was in the dorm by himself one day, working on a script for his theatre class. It was already 10:00 pm, and Jaebum would usually be at the dorm by this time. Jinyoung found it weird, but didn’t give it much attention.

 _He’s probably smoking pot with Mark somewhere_ , Jinyoung thought. It wouldn’t be a surprise, considering how close those two were.

Despite Mark being the perfect student and the perfect swimmer, he was a druggie, and he didn’t do a great job of keeping it a secret, either. The thought of telling their swim coach about his habits had occurred to Jinyoung several times—after all, it would mean that he would become the best student, he would be the best swimmer on the team, and he wouldn’t be second to Mark anymore. But that was wrong, and Jinyoung wanted to win fair and square.

Suddenly, the door to the dorm opened with a bang. Jinyoung almost jumped in his seat. He saw Jaebum entering their dorm, cursing under his breath. And was that a bruise on his forearm?

At first, Jinyoung just went back to his work and drowned out Jaebum’s words—until Jinyoung heard Jaebum say, “Fuck Mark.”

Jinyoung looked up from his homework. “What did Mark do?”

“None of your business,” Jaebum said through gritted teeth.

Jinyoung wanted to push Jaebum a bit further, but decided against it, returning to his homework. When he was done, he changed and got ready for bed. Jaebum was already lying on his bed, still in the same clothes he wore when he came into the dorm, staring absentmindedly at the ceiling.

As Jinyoung got into bed, Jaebum suddenly asked, “Hey, I never asked you, but why do you dislike Mark?”

“I don’t dislike Mark,” he retorted. “I _hate_ him.”

“Okay, well, why do you hate Mark?”

Jinyoung paused for a moment, wondering if he should be telling this to Mark’s friend. But then he said, “Because I hate how he’s always the best. He has the best grades, best swimming, best everything. I hate it. And I’m pretty sure he’s gonna be the swim team captain, too.”

“Have you done anything about it?”

Jinyoung shrugged. “I just gotta prove that I’m better than him by working even harder.”

Neither of them said anything for a while, and then Jaebum said, “I should change. Goodnight, Jinyoung.”

“Night.”

-

When Jinyoung woke up the next morning, Jaebum was already up, looking at something on his laptop. Jinyoung wasn’t the type to peek at what other people were doing, but he was pretty sure he saw a map of the campus focused on the swimming pool area on the laptop’s screen.

Jinyoung got out of his bed, and Jaebum quickly switched his screen to something else. “Good morning, Jinyoung.”

“Morning,” was Jinyoung’s reply as he went into the bathroom.

When he got out, Jaebum asked him, “Where are you going?”

“The pool.”

“On a Saturday? Do you ever take a day to relax?”

“I can’t just slack off.”

“Are you doing anything after you practice?”

“Probably get lunch off campus while I study. Why?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Uh, yeah, okay,” Jinyoung said, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was something else Jaebum had to say.

As he walked out, he realized that his heart had been beating much faster than it usually did.

-

The next couple weeks passed by in a blur. Mark became team captain, as expected, and Jaebum continued to hang out with Mark all the time.

Yet something felt different whenever Jinyoung was around Jaebum. Not only was Jaebum trying to speak to Jinyoung more often than usual, but Jinyoung felt… different, around Jaebum. He didn’t quite know how to explain it, but a lot of the times, he wouldn’t know how to respond to something Jaebum would say to him, and Jinyoung’s mouth would go dry when he was around Jaebum sometimes. He’d never felt this way around anyone else before.

Nor did he talk as much as he did to anyone else like he did with Jaebum. Sure, he spoke a lot to his professors and his swim coach, but that was more out of necessity than anything. Whenever Jaebum would ask what he was doing today or how he’d been, Jinyoung gave more than his usual two- or three-word answers.

One thing Jinyoung noticed was that the majority of the time when Jaebum tried to start a conversation, it was usually about Mark. He’d ask things like how did Mark usually act around Jinyoung, were Jinyoung and Mark ever friends, was there anyone else Jinyoung knew who didn’t like Mark, things like that. It was strange, for sure, but Jaebum was probably just looking out for his friend.

Things got even weirder between them, though, when Jaebum asked Jinyoung if he wanted to have lunch together.

“W-what?” said Jinyoung, shellshocked.

“I asked if you wanted to have lunch with me.”

“Uh…” Jinyoung wasn’t sure how to respond.

“I was gonna have lunch with Paradise, my Soundcloud crew, but they’re busy today. And Mark’s out with Jackson.”

“Mark and Jackson are still dating?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know?”

“I guess I just thought they would’ve broken up a while ago. The Jackson guy’s obnoxious, and also I don’t pay much attention to them.”

Jaebum shrugged. “Well, anyway, are you down for lunch?”

Out of nowhere, despite disliking the idea of being social, he said, “Sure, I guess.”

“Sweet, there’s this place off campus that I usually go to with Paradise,” said Jaebum. “You don’t have any classes later today, right?”

“Just swim practice, but that’s not till five.”

“Cool, then we can take our time.”

Jinyoung gulped. Take our time? What the hell did that mean?

But Jinyoung complied and followed Jaebum out of the dorm. While they were walking, Jaebum chatted on and on to Jinyoung about Mark, his parents, Mark, his classes, and Mark, but Jinyoung could only nod and give one-word responses to Jaebum. It was getting pretty annoying, though, because it started to feel like he could never be around Jaebum without hearing Mark’s name.

They arrived at the restaurant, and as they were deciding what to order, Jaebum suddenly spoke up. “So, um, Jinyoung… Remember a few weeks ago when I came home all mad and you asked me what’s up with Mark?”

Jinyoung had almost forgotten about that day, but after Jaebum brought it up, he remembered it vividly. It was the day that Jaebum had started acting weird. “Yeah, what about it?”

“I… never told you why I was mad that night.”

Jinyoung waved his hand. “You don’t have to talk about it.”

“No, I need to tell you what happened.”

Jinyoung was surprised at Jaebum’s straightforwardness. “Uh, okay then, so what happened?”

“You see, my parents… well, Mark and I were childhood friends, and so my parents have known Mark for a long time. Even when we were little, he was still the perfect kid that everyone wanted to be like, and my parents knew that. So… whenever I’d get back a test and my score didn’t exactly meet their standards, they’d always scold me about how I should be a better student like Mark. Even now, they’re still like that. That’s what happened that night. I was talking with my parents because they were asking me how my grades were, and I told them they were okay, and then they asked me about Mark’s grades, and I tried to avoid the topic, but… they knew better.”

Jaebum sighed. “Mark’s my best friend, he really is, but I’m tired of my parents comparing me to him all the time.”

Jinyoung almost choked on his water, and his heart skipped a beat. He never expected to hear that from Jaebum.

“Jaebum, you’re the first person I’ve ever talked to who feels that way. Do you have any idea how glad I am to hear this? I’m _so_ sick of hearing _everyone_ talk about how amazing Mark is.”

“You’re not alone on that,” Jaebum remarked. “Mark’s a good guy, but I hate how my parents give me shit about how I should be like him all the time.”

“And what about your bruise that night?”

“I, uh…” Jaebum clenched and unclenched his fists. “My parents sometimes do more than just scold me about Mark…”

Jinyoung’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”

“No.”

“Does Mark know about it?”

“He knows what my parents do to me, but he doesn’t know why they do it. He’s asked me about it several times, but I always avoid the topic.”

“Why?”

“Well… It’s nothing, really. I guess I just don’t wanna hurt his feelings.”

Jinyoung nodded. A waitress came by to take their order, and when she left, Jinyoung asked, “Jaebum… do you have feelings for Mark?”

Jaebum’s face went red. “Why do you ask?”

Jinyoung felt his heart jump into his throat, and he suddenly regretted asking that.

He didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no, either.

“No, it’s nothing. You don’t have to answer that. I’m sorry I asked.”

“Nah, it’s okay.” Jaebum sighed, then smiled. “Well, let’s talk about something that isn’t depressing. How’ve your classes been?”

Jinyoung took a moment to observe Jaebum. He couldn’t believe he never noticed till now, but the way Jaebum crinkled his eyes when he smiled was… cute.

Jinyoung mentally slapped himself. Where the hell did that come from?

He guessed he could see why girls might think he was attractive, but Jinyoung definitely did not think that. Nope. Not at all.

But he looked back at Jaebum’s face and couldn’t help but feel his abnormal heartbeat as he saw Jaebum smile.

Was this what it was like to have a crush on someone?

Jaebum snapped in front of Jinyoung’s face. “Hey, are you okay?” As Jaebum moved his hand back to his side, his fingers accidentally brushed Jinyoung’s hand.

Jinyoung blinked, his hand feeling tingly and his heart beating fast from Jaebum’s touch. He wanted to say, _No, I’m not, because I’m pretty sure I have feelings for you and I’ve never felt this way about another guy and I don’t know how to deal with this and I’m pretty sure you don’t feel the same way about me because even though your parents compare you to Mark you’re probably in love with him anyway since you and Mark are best friends and everyone puts Mark first before me so the fact that I even remotely like you this way means I’m fucked._

But Jinyoung just said, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

-

Jinyoung’s newfound feelings for Jaebum made being his roommate even worse. Every time Jaebum was texting Mark, Jinyoung would feel a pang of jealousy course through him. Whenever Jaebum said he’d be over at Mark’s dorm to play Overwatch, Jinyoung couldn’t help but feel lonely. The worst part was whenever Mark would swing by their dorm to get Jaebum, and the two of them would start a conversation about this or that and Jaebum would have that smile on his face that got Jinyoung’s heart racing, except that smile wasn’t for him, it was for Mark, and whenever Jaebum would laugh, it was always at something Mark said.

Jinyoung’s hatred for Mark only grew after he had fallen for Jaebum, because yet again, Mark was first. Not only was he the perfect student and swimmer, but he also had Jaebum, and Jaebum had Mark. It wasn’t on the forefront of Jinyoung’s mind at first, but when he found out about Mark and Jackson’s breakup, he knew that it was only a matter of time before Jaebum would start chasing after Mark.

 _Mark, you shithead,_ Jinyoung thought, _getting in the way of everything._

What was strange, though, was how Jaebum seemed to be opening up to Jinyoung more and more. Some nights while they were in their beds and neither of them were asleep, Jaebum would tell Jinyoung about all these times when he was a kid and his parents would scold him because Mark did something better than him. Getting a better grade on a math test, staying up late to study while Jaebum ignored his homework, being the pride and joy of his family—all the things Mark did that Jaebum never accomplished. To Jinyoung, it seemed like Jaebum had been living in Mark’s shadow his whole life. He took Jinyoung out with him to lunch and dinner quite often, too, and as much as Jinyoung didn’t want to admit it, he liked being with Jaebum… a lot.

Jinyoung would tell Jaebum about his experiences with Mark as well. How he hated Mark from their first encounter at their first swim practice as first-year students, when Jinyoung initially impressed their coach with how quickly he could do the 200m freestyle, but then Mark came along and effortlessly beat Jinyoung’s time. How Mark seemed like he wanted to be friends with Jinyoung at first, but Jinyoung couldn’t help but feel like it was just Mark’s way of showing his superiority. How Jinyoung would spend so much time at the pool just practicing, yet Mark was always better, no matter how hard Jinyoung tried. How he was so furious when their coach asked Jinyoung, of all people, to give Mark the team captain form, because it was honestly humiliating for him.

But even when all they talked about was Mark, Jinyoung treasured every moment he had with Jaebum. Jinyoung had never felt so carefree around anyone else, and having someone whom he could open up to about what was on his mind was something he never thought he’d need. Sometimes, Jinyoung would think about doing something about how he feels—perhaps going on a picnic, taking Jaebum to a nice restaurant, or just straight-out confessing to him—but then he would be reminded of Mark, and Jinyoung would push away any thoughts of Jaebum.

“Hey, Jinyoung,” said Jaebum from the other side of the dorm. They were both at their desks, working on homework.

Jinyoung turned toward Jaebum. “Yeah?”

“I’ve… been meaning to ask you something for a while.”

Jinyoung felt like his heart was about to burst. Was this what he thought it’d be…?

“What is it?” Jinyoung asked.

“I’ve been planning something for Mark for a while, and I wanted to ask you for your help.”

Jinyoung’s spirits fell. Of course. He was being too optimistic, thinking that Jaebum would have any romantic interest in Jinyoung.

But what Jaebum said was not what Jinyoung was expecting.

“I want to kill Mark.”

Jinyoung could only stare at Jaebum. He was kidding, right?

“You… want to kill Mark?”

Jaebum nodded. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but I need someone who can help me with it. I can’t do it alone.” Jaebum got out of his seat and sat next to Jinyoung. “I already have a detailed plan to get it done. You just have to do the dirty work for me. How does that sound?”

Jinyoung could feel Jaebum’s breath on his face, and Jinyoung felt his cheeks grow warm. “So you have it all planned out, but you want me to do the actual killing?”

“Exactly,” he said. “You don’t like Mark because he’s always been better than you, and I’m sick of my parents comparing me to Mark all the time. Don’t you want this?” Jaebum’s hands were pressed hard on his lap, but Jinyoung could tell that Jaebum’s hands were actually shaking.

This plan was against everything Jinyoung believed in. Yes, he wanted to beat Mark, but not this way.

Also, wasn’t Mark Jaebum’s friend? Why did he want to kill Mark?

Were all those complaints Jaebum had about Mark more serious than he thought?

“I don-...” Jinyoung was about to tell him that he wanted nothing to do with this, that he would rather work hard to be a better swimmer than Mark than cheat his way out of it.

But then Jinyoung realized that this might be a good way to gain Jaebum’s trust. Maybe, if Jinyoung complied, Jaebum would finally notice Jinyoung and think of him as more than just a roommate, more than just a friend.

Jinyoung would do anything for Jaebum to acknowledge him like that.

Jaebum sighed. “Ah, whatever, never mind about it. It’s probably—”

“I’ll do it.”

Jaebum looked shocked. “You’ll do it?”

Jinyoung nodded. “Yeah, I’ll help you kill Mark. Just tell me what to do.”

Jaebum still looked surprised for a minute, but then he smiled. Jinyoung felt his breath catch in his throat at how happy Jaebum looked. For once, Jaebum was smiling because of Jinyoung, not Mark.

“Good,” said Jaebum. “So here’s the plan.”

-

It was July 25, the day that Jinyoung was supposed to kill Mark.

Jinyoung was at the gym after theatre was over. He would be here again in a little over five hours to kill Mark. He still wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do, but then he remembered that this was for Jaebum, and that made him a little more calm.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Jackson working out as well, but he seemed to be distracted by his phone every minute, probably to check if Mark had texted him. Was the guy really still hung up on Mark, even after they broke up? Maybe that was what it was like to love someone so much. But at the same time, Jackson was one of the most annoying people Jinyoung knew, so Jinyoung doubted he’d ever be like that over someone he loved.

When Jinyoung was done at the gym, he returned to the dorm, and Jaebum was there. Normally, he would greet Jaebum whenever he’d come in, but there was some sort of tension in the room that compelled Jinyoung to stay quiet.

He sat down on his bed and pulled out his phone to check Instagram. After answering some DM’s, he saw his DM’s with Mark from a month ago. He opened them and read them over. Mark really was nice with Jinyoung from the beginning. If only he hadn’t been so good of a swimmer, then maybe they could’ve been friends.

 _It’s too late for that now_ , Jinyoung thought.

“Are you ready for tonight?” asked Jaebum.

Jinyoung opened his mouth to say yes, but then changed his mind. Instead, he said, “Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Neither have I,” said Jaebum, “but I’m ready to see Mark go. Aren’t you?”

Jinyoung hesitated before he answered, “Yeah… Yeah, I am.”

-

It was 7:10 pm. Not too long from now, Mark would be dead.

Jinyoung had already returned to the dorm and called Jaebum to inform him of Jinyoung’s alibi—that he forgot his keys to the dorm at the pool locker room, so he had to return to get them. That way, when the police questioned them later, Jinyoung had someone to back up his alibi.

When Jinyoung arrived at the pool, he saw Mark practicing the butterfly across the pool. Jinyoung had to admit, Mark was an incredible swimmer. Nobody could deny that.

And that made him mad.

It didn’t seem like Mark saw Jinyoung, so Jinyoung quietly made his way to the gym and grabbed a dumbbell. He tried to ignore how much his hands were shaking.

He waited for Mark to get out of the pool before he made his move, and it felt like ages just waiting in the gym for Mark to be done with practice. It was enough time to run away and not kill Mark—but Jinyoung wasn’t going to do that.

Finally, Mark got out of the pool. Jinyoung had his chance.

Mark was drying himself by the pool with his back facing Jinyoung. It was almost too easy.

Jinyoung crept up to Mark, making sure that his steps were quiet enough so Mark wouldn’t hear them. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he got closer and closer to Mark, and Jinyoung’s hands were shaking even more.

Eventually, he was only a foot away from Mark and Mark still didn’t realize—

Shit.

“Hey, who is it?” said Mark.

Before Mark could fully turn around, Jinyoung swung the dumbbell against the back of Mark’s head. Mark fell in the pool facefirst.

He wasn’t dead yet. He was still struggling in the water, but the injury to his head was bad and he was quickly losing a lot of blood. He wouldn’t make it.

Jinyoung took Mark’s towel, turned off the lights in the pool area, and left the pool area. He retreated to the gym, and as soon as he was out Mark’s sight, Jinyoung let out a huge breath.

He did it. Jinyoung killed Mark Tuan.

There was a part of him that felt guilty for it, because he never wanted to come to this. He wanted to beat Mark fair and square.

But at the same time, it felt… good. Good because his rival was finally out of the way. Good because nobody would be taking first place from Jinyoung anymore.

Good because Jaebum could be his now.

-

The police had already started investigating Mark’s death the night he had died. Jinyoung had stuck around in the gym for a while longer because Jackson had come in looking for Mark, and Jinyoung didn’t want Jackson seeing him. Thankfully, Jackson didn’t see Mark’s body in the pool because he had entered the pool from an entrance that was on the other side from where Mark’s body had been floating in the water, and it was also dark in the pool area. When Jackson left, Jinyoung had walked out and called the police, saying he had discovered a dead body in the pool.

The whole scheme worked out, just as Jaebum had planned it, and Jinyoung had never felt so simultaneously relieved and guilty.

It was already a week since Mark’s death, and the whole campus was shaken up over it. Mark was the star student; everyone knew about him and wanted to know who killed Mark. Jinyoung and Jaebum hadn’t been caught, and they hoped to keep it that way.

Swim practice went better than it had ever gone without Mark around. Jinyoung was now the team captain, and he finally felt like he was in his rightful place on the team. People were finally acknowledging his swimming abilities. There were still people sad over Mark, and they’d go up to Jinyoung or the coach and say things like, “Man, if only Mark were still here” or “Mark was honestly our best swimmer. It’s so sad that we lost him.” Those kinds of comments got on Jinyoung’s nerves, but he knew they would stop eventually.

But Jinyoung thought that with Mark out of the way, Jaebum could start looking at Jinyoung the way he always used to look at Mark. However, nothing about their relationship felt different. If anything, Jaebum spoke to Jinyoung much less often now that Mark was gone. Whenever they’d talk, it was always just one or two words to each other. Jinyoung missed their lunches together and the long nights they spent talking, and he wanted them back. In the few times that Jinyoung actually had the nerve to ask Jaebum to go to lunch or to see a movie together, he would just say something like, “Sorry, I’m busy.”

Did Jinyoung mean nothing to Jaebum?

That night, Jinyoung was in the dorm by himself, since Jaebum was out having dinner with Paradise. He was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about what Jaebum’s deal was. Did Jaebum care for Jinyoung, or did he really use Jinyoung just to help him kill Mark?

At that moment, Jaebum came into the dorm and said, “Hey.”

He was about to head straight to the bathroom until Jinyoung said, “Hey, can we talk?”

Jaebum paused. “Sure. What’s up?”

Jinyoung played with his thumbs, unsure where to start. “So… now that Mark’s gone, I know we don’t have that much to talk about anymore, since we mostly only just talked about Mark, but… could we hang out sometime?”

Jaebum sighed. “Jinyoung, I told you that I’m busy.”

“But you always made time for Mark, and you make time for Paradise. What’s so different now?” Jinyoung’s voice came out more hostile than he would’ve liked.

Jaebum eyed Jinyoung warily. “What do you mean?”

Jinyoung sighed. He didn’t want to be upfront about it, but it looked like he had no choice.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

Jaebum just stared at Jinyoung for a while, then laughed. Jinyoung hadn’t seen Jaebum laugh around him in a while, and it was so nice to see him do so.

“Jinyoung, I know you have feelings for me.”

Jinyoung stood there agape. He didn’t know what to say.

Jaebum continued, “I’d had a feeling since that first time we went out to lunch together that you liked me. I wasn’t completely sure then, but when I asked you if you wanted to help me kill Mark, the fact you said yes pretty much confirmed it. You wanting to do anything immoral like that is really out of character of you.”

“So you used my… feelings toward you… to take advantage of me?”

Jaebum shrugged. “If you want to put it that way, sure.”

“So I mean nothing to you? All that time we spent together, and we were never friends?” Jinyoung was shouting and panting, but really, he had no idea what was going on. Everything just seemed so confused in his head.

Jaebum didn’t say anything.

“I can’t believe you! I thought that you would finally start thinking of me the same way you thought so highly of Mark! And now everything we did together means nothing to you?”

Jinyoung heard sirens from outside, and he saw flashing blue and red lights approaching their dorm.

“Fuck!” yelled Jaebum. “How did they find out?” His eyes went to Jinyoung. “Did you screw us up or something?”

“No, I swear I didn’t!” Jinyoung pleaded. “Jaebum, I did everything as planned! I have no idea how they found out!”

They stood there, staring at each other. They were already caught, and there wasn’t much they could do until the police stormed into their dorm.

“J-Jaebum,” whispered Jinyoung, almost inaudibly. He felt tears running down his cheeks. “Before we’re cuffed, tell me one thing.” He gulped. “Did you ever have feelings for me?”

Jaebum sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Jinyoung.”

As the police came in to cuff him and Jaebum, everything around Jinyoung was starting to fall apart. Jaebum never reciprocated Jinyoung’s feelings for him, and now Jinyoung would never be able to keep a clean record, all thanks to his stupid, _stupid_ love for Jaebum.

He had always been second to Mark, never the best, no matter what he did, and it seemed like fate wasn’t allowing that to change.

**Author's Note:**

> unrequited, one-sided jjp was so fun to write omg
> 
> but anyway, this setting is based off a game called prove it that marktvn on twitter made! please go check out her game and her sequel, it was awesome!
> 
> anyway, thanks for reading and please let me know what you thought!


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